Pages

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Those Places Thursday : Top Hat Drive In, Alexandria Indiana

Mom shared her memories of an old Alexandria, Indiana landmark and a photo from her high school yearbook.

Source: Alexandria-Monroe High School Spectrum, 1964 edition

Top Hat Special

When I was in high school I worked as a carhop and payroll clerk for the Top Hat Drive-In. Our special was the "Top Hat" Sandwich which was nothing more than a cheeseburger on toast with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. It was amazing how good a cheeseburger could be just by changing to toast and proved to be a popular item for customers. If I recall they sold for 35 cents.

Our other specials include hand-bread tenderloins and onion rings which were double dipped in a milk&egg mixture and then into cracker crumbs. I remember "tater tots" being introduced and were served with sour cream.

The Top Hat was owned locally by insurance man, Neal Johnson, teacher & coach, Shorty Burdsall, and Harry Jolliff. Harry was the one who mainly managed and worked the grill. Shorty would on occasion work the grill when Harry had to be off.

Those Places Thursday – do you often think back to places where you lived and worked at one time? What about those places where your ancestors spent time? Post about “those places” with photos and stories on Those Places Thursday. This has been an ongoing series by Cheryl Palmer of Heritage Happens.